“Call me Ely.” He nodded at the road stretched out in front of us, his thick silver mustache twitching. “And what’s the point of owning a tow if I can’t rescue two city folks from the mean wilderness of Corsicare?”
I could see Ben flinch at being calledcity folk, but seeing as he was scrunched between Ely Gunther and me in the truck cab, his shoulders pressed up against his ears, he didn’t have much room to emote.
“Well, we really appreciate it,” I said. Ben and I were practically in each other’s laps, and the fact that we were back to hating each other yet again was doing nothing to calm my body’s reaction to the feel of all his firm muscles pressed against my side. My body, it went without saying, was a traitor.
“I’ll get you settled,” Ely said, “then I’ll take a look at the car. Can’t make promises, though. I’ve never worked on one of those Priuses.”
Probably introducing ourselves to Ely Gunther by way of broken-down hybrid was not the best way to make our case that he should endorse a move to electric vehicles, but still—I was here to shoot my best shot.
I smiled like nothing was wrong. “I’m sure it will be up and running in no time.”
Ely leaned against the front door of his house and wiped a rag over his oil-stained hands. “I’m afraid I have no earthly idea how to fix that car.”
He shifted so Ben could walk in the house behind him, wiping his sweaty forehead against his shirtsleeve. “I think we’re going to need to tow it into town. Find a shop.”
I looked out the windows of the living room at the darkening sky. “Will there be any shops open?”
“Not at this hour,” Ely said, and that seemed to take Ben by surprise. Ely shrugged. “We don’t work city schedules out here.”
“Do you have...Uber?” I felt ridiculous asking, but the box had to be checked.
Ely snorted. “No. But don’t worry. It’s been ages since I’ve had guests over—other than John, of course. Fortunately, I think I remember how to do it.”
John. He must mean Senator Wayne. They truly were close, then.
Ely clapped a hand on Ben’s shoulder. “Why don’t you take a shower in the guest bath down the hall? I can get you a change of clothes.” He gestured at his shirt and Wranglers. “Hope you don’t mind fashion a little different than you’re used to.”
“Not at all,” Ben said. “I really appreciate it.”
“When you’re done, we’ll start us a fire and make some dinner. How does that sound? I know you two came here to pitch me something, and there’s nothing better than talking under the stars. You can stay the night, and we’ll tow your car in the morning.”
“You don’t have to,” I protested. “It’s way too generous.” Christ, we’d come here to win Ely Gunther over, and now he was clothing, feeding and sheltering us. What a great impression we were making.
Ely waved. “Nah. It’s nice to have company. John doesn’t come around nearly as much as I wish he would.” With that, he turned and ambled into the kitchen.
As soon as he was gone, Ben padded pointedly past me in the direction of the bathroom. My eyes tracked him as he slid inside and twisted the shower knob to get the water going. He pulled his shirt over his head, exposing the broad, tan expanse of his back—his muscled shoulders and the long lines that tapered to his waist.
He turned to kick the door closed behind him, and I saw a flash of the abs I remembered from when we were dating, except now even more pronounced. Like he’d been spending more time in the gym than usual, working off extraordinary amounts of stress. What froze me was the sight of the black hair that trailed lightly from his chest to his stomach, and down into the waistband of his jeans...
The bathroom door slammed shut, and the sound made me jump.
“Lee?” Ely called from the kitchen. “Want to give me a hand?”
I spun, like a child caught red-handed. “Coming!”
Ely’s ranch covered hundreds of acres of land, but the only building on the property was his modest house. In the absence of civilization and all its pollutants, the stars were dazzling, like fistfuls of diamonds tossed against black velvet.
I leaned back and gazed up at the sky. The only noise was the fire, crackling and spitting. After a stressful day, it was nice to have this moment of peace.
“You sure you’re full, Lee?” Ely’s voice was worried. He’d looked at me with fatherly concern ever since I’d told him I was a vegetarian and wouldn’t need the steaks he was planning to grill, just the vegetables. “You ate like a rabbit.”
“I ate my body weight in carrots and potatoes.”
“Exactly,” Ely said, tilting his head like I was a puzzle. “Carrots and potatoes.”
From across the fire, Ben grinned softly to himself. Then he caught me looking and wiped the smile off his face.
All right. Yet another instance in which Ben—full-fledged meat enthusiast and devourer of one and a half steaks, much to Ely’s approval—was the favored nation. When I got home, I was going to have to take a hard look at my favorability metrics and possibly make some adjustments. Could I alter my laugh to be more inviting? We would see.
